Of 6670 screened, eligible patients, 4731 (70.9 per- cent) fulfilled the inclusion criteria and underwent randomization (Fig. 1). The median duration of follow-up was 4.9 years (range among survivors, 4.0 to 6.6). Among survivors, there was no significant difference in the number of patients in each treatment group lost to follow-up (P = 0.42). More patients in the placebo group than in the atorvastatin group withdrew consent after randomization (P = 0.07), permanently discontinued study treatment (20.2 percent vs. 15.4 percent of follow-up time for the primary end point, respectively; P = 0.07), and began open-label, nonstudy statin therapy (7.5 per- cent vs. 1.0 percent of follow-up time for the primary end point, respectively; the net difference in statin use between groups was 78.1 percent). During the trial, the treatment assignment of nine patients (three assigned to atorvastatin and six assigned to placebo) was revealed to the study physician.